Blog #20: Fishbowl Responses

Group 1 - Thursday
Austin Woodruff - http://woodruffaustinapenglishlit2016.blogspot.com/

Hi Austin! I think you had a very beautifully designed poster with the use of font and color. I think you really showed what Hagelslag meant to you. I think you did a good job during the Fishbowl considering you guys had way less time than anticipated. I liked how you talked a lot and had very interesting analysis of Their Eyes Were Watching God. The part about freedom being free from culture was quite interesting, I had never considered that culture itself might be a constricting factor on a person. I think you can improve on citing more outside sources. You were the only one to bring up a poem, but I think you could have demonstrated better synthesis with more outside connections. Also, your discussion could have benefited from more questions. It's good that the group can take a topic and run with it, but it may be better to switch gears every now and then. Overall, a good job in strict time constraints.

Group 2 - Friday

Grace Huang - http://huanggraceapenglish2015.blogspot.com/

Hi Grace! I really liked your memoir, as Chinese American myself, it really struck a cord. I think you did a great job during the discussion, you had a strong presence and helped lead the discussion. I liked how you referenced the poems and synthesized from several sources about identity. The part about how hair could mean different things was an interesting idea. Citing "Medusa" and "Rapunzel" in the discussion added a new layer of complexity on what symbols can mean. Though at times I feel you may have started to drift too far from Their Eyes Were Watching God. But overall, I think you did a very good job in the discussion and helped contribute to the class’s complex understanding of Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Group 3 - Monday

Akane Ohara - http://oharaakaneapenglish2015.blogspot.com/

Hi Akane! I liked your video a lot. I think you made a really strong connection to your heritage. It's also really well made, the camera work and editing are very well refined. Your food was also very tasty and visually appealing. I also liked the design of your poster, simple but well made design, all the colors complemented each other. I think the fishbowl was quite good too. The "Rapunzel "discussion was quite interesting, looking at how Rapunzel's relationship to her grandmother helped illustrate the same idea in Their Eyes Were Watching God. I think, however, you could have talked more, I feel that other people dominated the conversation and you fell a bit more into the background. Overall, I liked your food presentation and your discussion, I just think there should have been more of it.

Group 4 - Tuesday
Kelly Wu - http://wukellyapenglish2015.blogspot.com/

Hi Kelly! I think you had a great video. Your sister was very cute and having your family around to help make Tang Yuan helped reinforce the theme of your connection to your family and China. I felt that red on black was a bad choice for the poster. It made it very hard to read the text on it. I felt you should have talked more in the fishbowl, it felt like you were following others’ lead rather than leading the discussion. The discussion on foreshadowing how the marriages turned out was good discussion; I'd never considered that element and it helped me think about Their Eyes were Watching God a bit more complexly. Noting the strong parallels to both "Helen" poems also added to the complexity. Overall, great video but I didn't really like your poster. I think what you said for the discussion was good, but I wanted more.

Blog #18: Food Memoir Rough Draft

Alexander Chung

Ms. Nichole Wilson

AP English Literature and Composition

15 January 2016

When the Abyss is Dark Roast

I am a geek. A nerd. A connoisseur of science and technology. I've spent hours sailing through the internet reading articles about the latest coming in from labs and workshops. Tweaking my computer is a daily joy. I've spent just as much time modding video games as I've had playing them. Despite all this, I've had almost no genuine research experience.

So I volunteered at a lab. It was time for the biweekly meeting at the research lab, and as a volunteer, I attended to try to learn all that I could. Unfortunately, I was a few years behind the professional college-educated researchers, so I sat in a little corner at the table, staring out the window and trying my best not to make eye contact.

The researchers arrayed themselves at the end of the table; chatting amicably about the nothing in particular that coworkers always talk about. They were passing out the coffee when one of the technicians asked me, "Alex, would you like some coffee?"

Would I? I thought turning my head. It looks like it has a lot of sugar and I am on a diet, but it's been so long. No! Think about waistline!

Do I even like coffee? To be honest, it might have always been the cream and sugar. Black coffee is terrible ninety-nine percent of the time, but the one percent is really good. Wait. Why am I even questioning this? It's a cup of coffee, not a speech to the UN assembly!

The technician looked down at the pot and adjusted her grip.

The people here always talk about how amazing coffee is. There's a coffee machine in the office all the researchers gather around. Whenever I walk in the morning, everybody already has a cup. I hear our project director drinks two pots a day and she frequently brings up how it helps her stay focused. Maybe it's why all these people can do all that they do. It's never done much for me though.

I felt my brain short circuit for a moment.

If I don't like the taste or the effects, why do I even drink the stuff? I brew a pot on a semi-regular basis, but it's more a habit than a desire. So really, I don't have a reason to like it.

My eyes unfocused as the sun hit my face, until I didn't see anything at all; alone with my thoughts.

Why coffee anyway, why not tea? Coffee and tea, coffee and tea. The two most common beverages in the world. After America threw off its colonial yoke and had the most epic tea party ever, the US of A became a coffee culture partly out of spite for old Great Britain. As an American, it's my solemn duty to drink coffee just for that 250 year old kerfuffle.

Coffee's got other implications beyond my pride as a member of the Greatest Country on Earth. In my long expeditions through the internet, I've heard my fellow geeks talk about how that magical elixir solves all problems. Coding? Coffee. Gaming Marathon? Coffee. Bored? Coffee. To be a geek is to be a coffee drinker.

So what is coffee beyond bitter bean water soup? Intelligentsia: from the coffee houses of the Enlightenment to its ubiquity in Silicon Valley, coffee is the drink of the thinking man. Not just the thinking man, but the stimulating effect is now associated with early risers and its now also become the drink of the working man. Intellect and industry, could there be any more attractive values to an ambitious young man? Maybe that was why I drank coffee, to take on the superficial trappings of values that I desired.

So, do I even like coffee?

Not really, I just think I should.

What would I be without coffee?

My own man, free of a stereotype of my own making.

"Alex?"

"Yes?"

"Coffee?"

"No thanks."

Blog #19: Memoir Stuff

Blog #17: Fishbowl

Blog #16: Empty? Not listed